FirstPoint USA, the world’s leading college soccer agency, is delighted to announce the appointment of former Salve Regina University men’s soccer coach Craig O’Rourke II as it’s new Director of College Scouting for the Boston area.
Craig brings a wealth of experience and insight from an extensive college coaching and playing background, having held several key roles over the past 25 years. He will join FirstPoint’s growing college scouting team, working with partner clubs including Boston Bolts and supporting our vast network of coaches in identifying talent for their respective programs.
Craig served as the head coach of the Salve Regina University men's soccer program for 17-years (2007-2024) and was twice named the Commonwealth Coast Conference 'Coach of the Year.' His teams earned two conference regular-season titles as well as outright conference championships in 2012 and 2019. In both of those seasons, he guided his teams to NCAA Tournament bids as well as an ECAC Championship semifinal in 2010. His 2018 side went the entire season undefeated (15-3-0) and rose as high as #14 in the national polls. Craig saw 8 of his teams regionally ranked, including 5 of them appearing in the national polls during his career. He had over 100 student-athletes named All-Conference and saw 46 of his players recognized as All-Region, 7 of whom went on to be named All-American. At the same time, O'Rourke also helped the team succeed in the classroom, earning the United Soccer Coaches College Team Academic Award 13 times, including a streak of 10-consecutive awards from 2015 to 2024.
Prior to his time at Salve Regina, Craig was head coach at Bridgton Academy (ME) from 2003 to 2007, compiling an overall record of 57-16-7 (.756). His 2004 side compiled the best record in school history at 19-3-0 and established a New England prep school record for goals in a season (122). Before Bridgton, Craig served as an assistant with the Roger Williams University men's soccer program, where he helped guide them to three consecutive conference championships and three NCAA tournament berths. In his five years at Roger Williams, the team compiled an overall record of 75-29-4 (.713) while posting a conference record of 55-6-1 (.895).
Andrew Kean, FirstPoint USA’s chief executive said: “We are excited to recruit Craig onto our team and bring in someone with his wealth of knowledge and experience. He will provide fantastic support to players and families at our partner clubs in Boston and will play a key role in identifying the right talent from those clubs on behalf of our college coach network. Craig knows the college soccer scene inside out and we’re looking forward to learning from him and enhancing FirstPoint’s services. “
Craig is a 1997 graduate of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he earned his bachelor's degree in biology/pre-medicine while playing for the men's soccer program. While at WPI, he was twice selected to all-tournament and all-conference teams.
Having turned down the offer to play professional soccer after college, he continued to pursue his education at the University of Rhode Island, graduating with a master's in business administration. Craig holds both an Advanced National Coaching Diploma and an Advanced Level II Goalkeeping Diploma from the NSCAA as well as a National 'B' Coaching License from the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). He was also a licensed referee and officiated at the U.S. Youth Soccer regional and national championships as well as serving on the USL professional referees list.